FOR SEVERAL YEARS MY HUSBAND and I faced one battle after another: a fire at our family’s business that resulted in total loss, my mom’s cancer diagnosis, searching for a different future only to be met by brick walls, battles that we privately fought through for our business, alcoholism in the middle of all of it, the list goes on. I know that we aren’t promised an easy life, nor are we owed one. We are all sinners and Jesus, the only person to walk the earth without sin, took our sins to the cross in our place over 2,000 years ago. Though we know we aren’t promised a life of ease, on some days we have still felt so beaten down and worn. We’re human, and oftentimes it’s been easy for us to forget that our trials draw us near to our Creator in a way that a life of ease doesn’t. Despite what we have walked through, last year God answered many prayers for our family. The healing that has occurred over the past 14 months has been a breath of fresh air. One by one, God has brought peace, restoration, and healing to our battles mentioned above. However, late last year I took my eyes off of Him and let sin creep in. I began to face disbelief of how God is working in our lives. Doubt and fear became a daily battle. I had been so used to walking in the desert and was doubting that God would continue to heal us in the few places we are still scorched. For years we had fervently prayed for peace, healing, and restoration and I shouldn’t have been surprised that God was answering those prayers. SUPPORT BUSINESSES THAT MAKE OUR MISSION POSSIBLE For several days I wrestled with fear and concern for what would happen in our future. What would be the next thing that would make us pick up the pieces again? One day, God spoke to me and gave me the answer to my fear. We assist many women with gifts during Christmas in our business, and my husband and I were delivering a Christmas gift for a wife to her husband one day. On that day God so clearly revealed to me that looking towards the future without fear is so simple. We delivered the gift and the recipient was so excited and thrilled, just full of joy! As we pulled out of their driveway, I looked at my husband and said, “This is what I want to do every day of my life. Deliver joy and see people so joyful.” At that moment, I looked down at my sweatshirt, remembering I had picked out the one that read “PURE JOY” on the front. On the back it quotes James 1:2-3, my favorite scripture. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Suddenly, all of the worry and concern for what may come our way in the future dissolved. We don’t have to fear for our future, for our day, for our week. We simply look forward to our future with excitement and without fear, remembering that when trials do come our way, we count it all joy! God never promised that our lives would be without trial. As a matter of fact, He told us that in this world we would have trouble. Our lives will not always be easy, and we will have to face things that hurt, that make us grieve, that make us question our future and our plans. I’ve experienced questioning again even in the midst of writing this piece. However, these trials and losses that we will all walk through are sometimes allowed because God wants our hearts, and He wants our eyes on Him. They are designed to make us cling to the only one that can give us hope in an unknown future, the only one that can give us strength when no one else can. We can’t expect our futures to be without trouble, but we can expect our God to meet us in the middle of our trouble and He will every single time. We simply must turn away from our own selfish thoughts and desires and seek Him and His plan for our lives, bowing to the will of the one that holds it all together in the palm of His hands. Only then will we be able to look toward the future without fear and walk through each of our trials with hope. Count it all joy! B y K a c e y C l a n a h a n BeekeepersHill JOY From Ashes to 72 MARCH 2025 | INTHEVUE.COM
